Just some casual thoughts while enjoying the first official week of spring.
Kudos to the Bishop Guilfoyle and Northern Cambria girls basketball teams, both one win away the PIAA championships.
What more can be said about the Lady Marauders and their living-legend head coach? Mark Moschella's program is as good as any in the state -past or present, and the success couldn't happen to a nicer person.
And how cool would it be to have an all-District 6 title game? The Bryce Jordan Center could be rocking with black and gold fans alongside purple and gold fans, all of whom should appreciate the caliber of girls basketball we get to watch here in Central Pa.
Our local teams have made winning state titles look easy at times over the years, and yet, it's one of the toughest things to do in all of high school sports. Here's hoping the teams savor every moment, and fans appreciate all that both of these teams have accomplished.
n Are you loving the upsets in the NCAA Tournament or what? Cornell and Iowa State have obliterated the brackets for millions of prognosticators, while making history for their programs, and magic for their families and fans. It's hard to wait until next weekend
Watching the basketball playoffs makes one wonder would it really be that hard to come up with a playoff system in college football? One of the arguments has been the amount of class athletes would miss during a prolonged postseason, but three more weekends of college football (if it were an eight-team field) would sacrifice far less class than the four-day weekend rounds of tournament basketball games.
To preserve the tradition of bowl games, maybe the top eight teams could still play in the major bowls, rotating the national championship game the way the BCS does it now. The rest of the bowls could stay relatively the same. All of the "playoff" games would mean significantly more than a stand-alone bowl game.
Of course, there would still be reason for debate: what formula would be used to determine the top eight teams? But at least the championship could be decided on the field, and there wouldn't be a painfully long wait between the end of the regular season and the major bowl games.
n NASCAR drivers need to step it up and find a way to slow down Jimmie Johnson. His history-making four Cup championships should be applauded, and he seems to be a genuinely nice guy. However, that kind of domination is not good for a sport with 30-plus regular competitors.
NASCAR's new rules were supposed to give the drivers more room to mix it up. Still, five races into the new season, Johnson has already racked up three wins.
n With a nod to the Pittsburgh Penguins and their afternoon team tradition, I think I'll go take a quick nap.
Kellie Goodman can be reached at Kellie@BedfordCountyChamber.org. Her column appears on Tuesdays.
